Former Newton doctor sentenced to 5 years for illegally prescribing painkillers

A former Newton doctor will spend 5 years in prison for illegally handing out medication. Lafayette Twyner pled guilty in Feburary to federal charges of illegally dispensing hydrocodone resulting in death and health care fraud. Twyner admitted to prescribing various . medications — mostly pain killers — to patients who didn’t need them or were addicted to the drugs.

Twyner, who is 65, would then bill the patients and their insurance companies for the office visits where they asked for the drugs. Twyner voluntarily agreed to give up his license to the Iowa Board of Medicine along with a $10,000 fine. The Urgent Care Clinic where Twyner practiced in Newton closed one month after a raid in April of 2011 where investigators seized records related to the case.

The judge said she accepted the 5-year sentenced reached in the plea agreement that dropped over 100 other charges because Twyner has cooperated with investigators.